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Industry Wrap: Music News, August 3, 2012

Beyoncé stars, ‘Spin’ slays, and more

This week on the Colbert Report, Stephen Colbert announced that the second annual “StePhest Colbchella ’012: Rocktaugustfest” will take place on August 10 aboard the U.S.S. Intrepid aircraft carrier. Musicians partaking in the event include Santigold, Grizzly Bear, the Flaming Lips and Fun.

Spin Magazine laid off a number of employees this week, including editor-in-chief Steve Kandell, managing editor Catherine Davis, associate editor Melissa Giannini and Spin.com news editor Devon Maloney, as well as a number of staff members in the photo and production department. The layoffs come just a couple of weeks after Spin was purchased by Buzzmedia, raising even more questions about the future of Spin as a print publication.

Beyoncé is next to hop on the biopic bandwagon. She is reportedly planning to direct, star and produce a film about her life and career, which will include both concert footage and interviews.

Snoop is no longer a Doggy Dogg but a Lion. The rapper, donning the new Rasta name Snoop Lion, has turned to the reggae genre after being inspired while recording songs in Jamaica last February. The process of recording has been turned into a documentary titled Reincarnated, which is slated to premiere at the Toronto International Film Fest on September 7.

Amazon is revamping its Cloud Player to be more competitive with iTunes. The new Cloud Player is available with two options: a free version that allows users to store up to 250 songs free on Amazon’s servers or a version that permits storage of 250,000 songs for $24.99 a year. Those limits do not count songs bought directly through Amazon’s MP3 store, which has always been a distant second to iTunes but has been providing users with big discounts as part of an aggressive marketing campaign.

An auction of the late DJ Sir Jimmy Savile’s belongings raked in almost half a million dollars. Around 700 online bidders competed with 350 live buyers in Leeds, England, for a chance to obtain gold lamé suits, platform shoes and a selection of the DJ’s bling. All the money raised will be donated to charity.

Google’s new streaming media device Nexus Q didn’t go on sale in July as planned. After doing some beta testing, reviews came back that the hardware was good, but it does not support enough services, so Google is taking some time to fix that. As a treat to all those who pre-ordered the device, Google is sending a free Nexus Q to arrive around the time of the original release date.

A man from upstate New York had to be rescued by firefighters after falling down a 40-foot gorge while trying to sneak inside the Saratoga Performing Arts Center to see a Nickelback concert. The 22-year-old Kevin Beaudette is unharmed physically, though we doubt his ego will ever fully recover.